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Survey Questions to be a Part of TNReady

Published February 25, 2016

Students who take the TNReady state assessments next month will be asked to complete a survey. The purpose of the survey is to help identify future classroom and testing needs.

“The state has always had some type of survey on the early spring TCAP assessments,” said WCS Assessment Analyst Kevin Deck. “In previous years, it was included with the TCAP Writing Assessment. The survey questions are now part of the Part I TNReady assessments in ELA and mathematics.”

The questions are academic in nature and range in topics from classroom experiences to the test itself. The surveys never contain questions that could be considered personal in nature. Although not exactly anonymous, as a student’s responses to the survey are part of that student’s test record, results are always reported in aggregate. How an individual student responds is never reported.

Results from each survey question are used for a variety of reasons. Some questions help identify needs for future professional development and resource allocation while a few questions help with the design of future tests. Most importantly, the results from the survey have absolutely no impact on the overall score for the assessment.

The survey questions are located at the end of the second ELA essay and after the math test. Both surveys are optional, so students may skip any or all survey questions.

The ELA survey has seven questions:

How often do you write a paper in class or for homework?

  1. Almost every day
  2. Once or twice per week
  3. Once or twice per month
  4. Never or hardly ever

In class, how frequently do you make notes or an outline before you begin writing a paper?

  1. Almost always
  2. More than half the time
  3. About half the time
  4. Less than half the time
  5. Rarely or never

In class, how often do you work to edit or change a previous piece of writing?

  1. Almost always
  2. More than half the time
  3. About half the time
  4. Less than half the time
  5. Rarely or never

When you turn in a paper, how often does your teacher give you feedback to help you make it better?

  1. Almost always
  2. More than half the time
  3. About half the time
  4. Less than half the time
  5. Rarely or never

Did you do any of the following before writing your essay for this test?

  1. I made notes.
  2. I created an outline.
  3. I used a graphic organizer.
  4. I used a different way or more than one way to plan.
  5. I started writing without doing any of those things to plan.

Did you have enough time to finish this test?

  1. I finished early.
  2. I finished on time.
  3. I had to rush to finish.
  4. I did not finish.

What did you think about this test?

  1. It was harder than my other English language arts tests at school.
  2. It was about the same as my other English language arts tests at school.
  3. It was easier than my other English language arts tests at school.
  4. I am unsure because it was so different than my other English language arts tests at school.

The math survey has four questions:

Did you use a handheld calculator?

  1. Yes
  2. No

How easy was it to skip and go back to a question?

  1. Very easy
  2. Easy
  3. Hard
  4. Very hard
  5. I didn’t skip and return to any questions.

Did you have enough time to finish this test?

  1. I finished early.
  2. I finished on time.
  3. I had to rush to finish.
  4. I did not finish.

What did you think about this test?

  1. It was harder than my other math tests at school.
  2. It was about the same as my other math tests at school.
  3. It was easier than my other math tests at school.
  4. I am unsure because it was so different than my other math tests at school.